Cornered
by paynesgrey
Summary: Maggie's quick thinking gets her and Henry out of inevitable trouble, but into something else. Maggie x Henry. ONE-SHOT. This will not be continued.


AN: Written for 100_fairytales - 0.26, "Her Only Trick" on Livejournal. I might have taken some liberties with the setting, mostly to suit the plot. This one-shot will not be continued. (Since I am already working on a longer fic for this series.) Enjoy! Spoilers up to 1x11, "Thor's Slammer".

Cornered

"Tell me why I came here with you again?" Maggie shot at Henry while they were running through the Museum late at night, finishing up an unusually easy artifact mystery past closing hours. Maggie kept up to Henry's fast pace pretty well, but she knew that he was slowing down just for her. She frowned, wishing she was home studying for a Physics test rather than doing this.

Henry shot her a smile over his shoulder. Well, she supposed this wasn't so bad. Nobody had tried to kill them this time.

"I wish Jasper was here," Maggie bemoaned as they turned the corner within a few feet from the large compass graphic on the floor. Now they had to zip past the coffee stand, quickly use Maggie's key card and elude the on-duty guard as he made his rounds. As long as their timing was right...

"It couldn't be helped. Uncle Brian insisted he finish his paper tonight, even if he had to guard Jasper himself. Thankfully, I already finished mine." Henry smirked, still not sounding as breathless as she felt. He was truly extraordinary, after all that running he wasn't even breaking a sweat. He was either a superhero, or an alien, but either way, her thoughts were indication that either Jasper's comic book chatter was getting to her, or she was starting to develop hero worship for Henry.

"I'm shocked you finished before Jasper," Maggie commented. The exit door was right in sight, no less then twelve feet away.

Suddenly, before Henry could respond, he pulled her to a darkened corner betwen the two stairs after using his super-hearing. He glanced over at the coffee spot on the other side and grunted, probably wishing he had hidden them over there.

"What the..."

"Guard," Henry hissed at her, and she huddled close behind his back as he peeked around the corner. Maggie turned from Henry and tried the DOUM door, which at the moment, was inconveniently (and bizarrely enough) locked.

"Great! Were were so close. The door is right there!" Maggie whispered mournfully. Henry looked around. There was no way they could elude him now, not even if they snuck up the stairs to the exit above. The guard was not more than twenty steps away from them, and stairs were pretty open. (Plus, he could hear them running easily.) He'd catch them the second they turned the corner. Henry studied the stairs for a quick second, noticing the distance between the rim of the banister and the concealing wall to the left, just above their heads.

"I could make it if I move fast..." Henry said, and Maggie followed his gaze to the banister and she frowned.

"You have got to be kidding," she said, and Henry shot her a confident smile that told her she was underestimating him again. Well, if he didn't do things that didn't appear so humanly impossible! "I'm not fast enough to ... do whatever you think you can do up there," she said with a petulant snort.

"Then we have no choice. He's going to catch us," Henry said realistically, though Maggie detected a hint of defeat. She could tell by his eyes that Henry didn't like defeat very much.

"We can't. I'll really lose my all-access pass card this time!" She felt Henry rest his palms on her shoulders, drawing her closer to him and ducking farther into the shadows toward the locked door between the stairs. If the guard missed them crouching in the shadows, he'd have to be sleepwalking.

"Well, unless you have any ideas," Henry said. He looked over the corner, and the guard was whistling his way toward them, right before the compass floor logo. "It's too late to hide behind the coffee station."

Everything was going so well too. She almost wished Jasper was here. He'd have some kind of idea. He was the one that always had a strategy.

Henry turned around and put a comforting hand on her shoulder as the steps came closer. Maggie froze, and she suddenly had an idea.

It was a _bad_ idea. It was cheap, sort of cliche, but they might just get away with it, being high school students and all.

The guard was almost on top of them as Maggie spun around and grabbed Henry. Surprising him, she gave him a pleading look and said, "I'm really sorry for this, Henry." Then Maggie pulled Henry's collar and slammed his lips down onto hers.

It was one of the oldest tricks in the books. She had seen the same formulaic ploy in pretty much every romantic comedy she'd ever watched.

Her analytical thoughts began to fade away when she realized that Henry's lips were _really_ on hers, and though he was surprised at first, he responded quickly and quite well, and the softness of his mouth and the slip of his tongue felt surprising _nice_. And wow, he was good too, and he probably had some story from some far off place where he learned to kiss like this.

When she wasn't admiring the technique of his kiss, she realized that he had arbitrarily escalated the charade by leading her against the locked door with his body flush against hers. Then, he pushed into her and snaked his arms around her torso. She felt his finger tips tickle at the small of her back, and automatically she arched into him, pulling him closer against her mouth.

"Hey, you kids!" Suddenly, they jolted apart when the guard had finally found them, but it was just as Maggie had planned. She felt her face go hot (and why wouldn't it) with embarrassment, which she hoped added to the reason for their capture. The guard met their faces, and well crap, Maggie knew him, and the guard obviously knew Henry, who was sporting the biggest yet dorkiest grin she'd ever seen.

"Oh...Griffin and Winnock. I um... didn't know you two were... You're not supposed to be here this late," the guard said, turning to Maggie. "Young lady this is not how you should use your access card."

Maggie stepped forward with her hands folded in front of her. "Um, we're sorry, we just...well, we were working late..." The guard raised an eyebrow. Maggie giggled (she couldn't believe she actually _giggled_!) and said, "We lost track of time." Maggie stepped back and pulled Henry's arm while he still grinned like an idiot. Sheepishly, she drew him away under the guard's gaze. "We'll be going now."

The guard nodded, and the two of them hurried out the front door into the vacant school after hours. When they were in clear of the guard, Maggie sighed heavily in relief. Henry was normally silent, which grated on her nerves after what just happened between them.

Maggie rubbed her eyes. "Henry, I'm so sorry that happened..." She threw up a hand. "We can just forget about it and never speak of it again."

"Why? We got away, didn't we?" When she dropped her hand from her eyes, she found Henry closer to her than expected.

"Henry... um, I thought..." There was no way Henry Griffin actually liked that. Well, maybe he did, but it was beside the point. They were just friends! They couldn't go around ...doing that! She was inwardly mortified at how Jasper would react.

"That was good thinking back there," he said appreciatively, and weirdly, his voice sounded softer than usual.

Maggie wasn't surprised, though, that Henry would think her idea a good one. He'd probably never seen a romantic comedy or spy film in his life.

"Um... Henry, about the kiss..." she stammered, and before she could finish, he had her against the lockers, his fingers in her hair. This was so weirdly un-Henry-like. When he kissed her again, she felt a surge of excitement shoot up through her core, and she melted into him, responding softly with rising eagerness to the kiss.

She broke away, and Henry stared at her bemused, searching her expression to see if he was doing anything wrong. "I get it, you liked the kiss, but it's weird now, and you're not acting like yourself."

Henry shook his head. "I'm confused, so you don't want to continue this?"

"No, Henry, it was a rouse for the guard and that's all. If Jasper was there, I would have kissed _him _just the same."

"Oh," he said, and she watched his face and realized his thoughts were going into overdrive. She could see a tinge of hurt in his eyes, and she put a palm on his face.

"Listen, I like you, and that was... a _great _kiss. I'll admit that," she said with a light laugh. "But we're friends, Henry. It's the three of us; we're a team, so do you really want to change that?"

"I don't know," he responded contemplatively, and he frowned slightly, and she noticed he was having trouble finding the right words. "Ever since I met you, I thought you were beautiful and smart and...sometimes a little frightening, but it's really your confidence..." He stopped, and Maggie suddenly realized she was staring at him intently, shocked that he was saying such wonderful things about her. "I always wondered what it would be like to ask you, but since we became friends it seemed unlikely. Until you kissed me back there..."

"Henry Griffin, are you saying you like me?" she asked teasingly, somewhat awed.

He smiled amiably at her, and he gave a light bow in his nod - in only a way Henry Griffin would. "Yes," he answered, and Maggie couldn't help herself. She was moved, and she hardly ever got like that, she hardly had the _time_, not with logic and formulas and memorized _everything _buzzing around in her brain. She jumped forward and kissed him - impulsively and frenetically, like she couldn't let go. Then, she finally admitted it to herself. After all the times Henry had saved her, held her in the face of danger, or comforted her in her most vulnerable moments, she admitted that she liked him, more than she probably should, but beyond friends nonetheless.

Henry responded to her kiss better than before, and he met her mouth so deeply that she could taste the last thing he ate, something peppery and tart, as strange as that was, and she could smell him - the essence of him, so natural and wild and full of warmth, nurtured from places she may never know.

He pulled away from her briefly, and she could feel his lips trailing down her neck, and she wrapped her arms around him, gasping as his tongue swirled over the pressure of her pulse. Her thoughts and emotions made her dizzy, and she didn't even care that she may have a mark there in the morning.

Maggie pulled him away, drawing him back into against her mouth, her lips and tongue capturing and teasing his bottom lip. She heard him moan against her, and her body tensed, realizing how fast this was going - where it could go, and deep down, where she really wanted to go, and noticing the heat and excitement of his taut body next to hers, where he wanted to take her as well.

"Henry," she whispered, nuzzling against his cheek. He held her, and she felt him kissing her hair, and her head was swimming, desperately trying to re-align itself back to reality.

"Hrmm?" he said, just as dazed as she was.

"We should go," she said, but for some reason, she didn't want to move. She didn't want to stop, let go, or draw away from his hands, running all over the curves and lines of her body.

Though, Henry complied, and he drew her from against the lockers and took her hand as they headed out the main school entrance. Eventually they would part, leaving both to wonder and mull over the events of the night. Maggie was almost scared to go to bed that night; she pondered the dreams she'd have, alluring and tempting her.

"I don't know...what we're going to tell Jasper," Maggie said worried.

Henry turned to her. He squeezed her hand. "You.. want to tell Jasper?"

Maggie knew what he meant. What they did back there, well, changed everything. Or it would change, depending upon what they decided to do. They couldn't go back, could they? They couldn't just be friends... not after what she felt. She could see in Henry's face that he was just as concerned as she was.

She sighed. "Look, Henry. I don't want things to be weird, and I really don't want to upset Jasper."

Henry nodded solemnly. "I think he likes you. He just... he hasn't found the courage to tell you."

"I know," she said. "I mean, I've suspected."

"How do you feel about my cousin?" Henry asked bluntly, and Maggie supposed if they were talking about this, they might as well get it over with. She met his eyes earnestly.

"I love him the same as you do," she said truthfully.

Henry looked down at her hands, seemingly relieved by her answer, but he understood the weight of their dilemma. "Then, we take things slow." Maggie stared surprised, and he continued with a weighted sigh. "I will try to talk to him about it."

Maggie smiled at him. She leaned in and kissed his cheek, caressing the other with her palm before she drew away.

"Come on, I'll walk you home," Henry said, ever her protector, and always her hero.

Maggie nodded and let him lead the way. Who was she kidding? She wondered more about it; she didn't just have a hero complex for Henry Griffin. He was special to her, so much that it scared her.

Henry once asked if she loved her parents, of knowing it was a feeling you couldn't prove but something you just knew was real. Unlike her love for her parents, and even Jasper, her love for Henry was something more, something entirely unexpected and new.

Maggie realized that this was a mystery worth solving, an adventure worth exploring, and with Henry - things often moved fast, and there was never any turning back.

END


End file.
